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stare
[ stair ]
verb (used without object)
- to gaze fixedly and intently, especially with the eyes wide open.
- to be boldly or obtrusively conspicuous:
The bright modern painting stares out at you in the otherwise conservative gallery.
- to be patently or compellingly obvious:
The stark, staring fact is, you can't do something with nothing.
- (of hair, feathers, etc.) to stick out or stand on end; bristle:
Both male and female pheasants are rough-footed and have staring feathers around the head and neck.
verb (used with object)
- to stare at:
to stare a person up and down.
- to effect or have a certain effect on by staring:
They all laughed at me and stared me into silence.
noun
- a staring gaze; a fixed look with the eyes wide open:
The banker greeted him with a glassy stare.
verb phrase
- to cause to become uncomfortable by gazing steadily at one; overcome by staring:
A nonsmoker at the next table tried to stare me down.
stare
1/ stɛə /
verb
- introften foll byat to look or gaze fixedly, often with hostility or rudeness
- intr (of an animal's fur, bird's feathers, etc) to stand on end because of fear, ill health, etc
- intr to stand out as obvious; glare
- stare one in the faceto be glaringly obvious or imminent
noun
- the act or an instance of staring
stare
2/ stɛə /
noun
- dialect.a starling
Derived Forms
- ˈstarer, noun
Other Words From
- star·er noun
Word History and Origins
Word History and Origins
Origin of stare1
Origin of stare2
Idioms and Phrases
- stare (something) in the face, to confront or be confronted by (something unpleasant):
The company is staring bankruptcy in the face.
- stare one in the face,
- (especially of something undesirable) to be patently or compellingly obvious:
Sounds like a far-fetched theory, but when the evidence is staring you in the face, you have to take notice.
- to be urgent or impending; be about to happen:
The income tax deadline is staring us in the face.
- staring down the barrel of,
- having (a firearm) aimed at one, especially at close range:
He turned his head and found himself staring down the barrel of a rifle.
- facing (a threat, challenging situation, or imminent disaster):
Motorists are staring down the barrel of a major hike in the price of fuel.
Synonym Study
Example Sentences
They couldn’t have — not with the quiet of the gym when Notre Dame players sank free throws and the bored stares in the stands when officials blew their whistles against the home team.
I gave that boyfriend a long flat stare, then set my eyes on the ceiling until he knew to walk away.
I would ask her the difference between a small and a medium tomato and she would just give me this blank stare.
One cicada even landed on top of my muzzle and looked me in the eyes with a cold stare.
"How low this Court's respect for stare decisis has sunk," Sotomayor wrote.
In their midst stands a soldier with the Lebanese armed forces in a red beret, sporting an assault rifle and an unblinking stare.
Then he's quiet, while I, nonplussed, just stare until he adds, “The camera must never move.”
In the case of Steven Eugene Washington, nothing more than a blank stare made him a target for police bullets.
The teen refused to drop his knife, according to officers, fixed them with “a 100-yard stare,” and walked toward them.
“Hell yeah,” he says with a smile and a piercing, blue-eyed stare.
Blanche sat there with her little excited, yet innocent—too innocent—stare; her eyes followed Mrs. Vivian's.
At the station the head porter received their inquiry for a Bradshaw with a dull stare and a shake of the head.
Among others, an Abb thrice lifted his fork to his mouth, and thrice laid it down, with an eager stare of surprise.
The poor child didn't understand why Teacher Thomas should stare so at her, and she let out one long, unending bleat.
Jessie forbade her chum to tell, by a hard stare and a determined shake of her head.
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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